Investigation ongoing, milk inspector reviews Whittier records

State officials are reviewing pasteurization records of Whittier Farm in an attempt to determine what contaminated the milk produced at the farm with listeria bacteria.

Jeff Malachowski and Dan McDonald

State officials are reviewing pasteurization records of Whittier Farm in an attempt to determine what contaminated the milk produced at the farm with listeria bacteria.
Two deaths and two additional illnesses have been connected to the farm's milk since June -- information announced by state health officials Thursday.
The cause of the contaminations is still unknown, but a state milk inspector reviewed the company's pasteurization records, which indicate the amount of bacteria present in the milk, at the West Main Street processing plant, said Nancy Allen, director of public health in Shrewsbury.
The incidents mark the only fatal listeria-related illnesses Dr. Al DeMaria, the state Department of Public Health's director of communicable diseases, can recall in the state in the past 20 years.
The farm has suspended its operations for the foreseeable future. Multiple calls to the farm were not returned yesterday.
Presently, all state officials can do is speculate how the milk was contaminated. DeMaria thinks the contamination occurred after the milk was pasteurized.
``It could have been in a flavoring additive,'' said DeMaria.
However, DeMaria said most additives are added before pasteurization.
The farm's pasteurization process, which typically kills bacteria such as listeria, appears to meet code and regulations. This has led DeMaria to think the contamination may have occurred post-pasteurization. Unlike other states such as California, all Massachusetts farms are required to pasteurize milk intended for mass-production as ``raw milk is inherently dangerous,'' said DeMaria.
``From all appearances, they appear to have done nothing wrong. They've passed all inspections, but somehow it got into the milk,'' said DeMaria.
``It's still under investigation.''
Asked why the state warned consumers of the tainted milk months after the two deaths -- one man died in June, the other in October -- DeMaria said connecting the cases through forensic fingerprinting and finding the cause of the infection can be onerous and difficult.
About 20 to 25 cases of listeria are reported in the state each year, according to the DPH.
Blood samples contaminated with the bacteria have to be collected at hospitals and shipped to state laboratories, where scientists ``grind up the samples and analyze the DNA,'' then record their findings in a database. Each sample leaves a ``forensic fingerprint,'' said DeMaria.
``Just like ‘CSI,’'' he said, referring to the TV show about criminal investigations.
The four cases connected to the tainted milk had four DNA fingerprints that ``were clones of each other,'' said DeMaria, with Whittier Farms being the link to all four.
Typically such connections are not announced until an investigation is complete, but because ``there was confirmation of a field product we had to take action,'' the DPH doctor said.
Milk produced at the farm is known by several brand names including Whittier, Schultz, Balance Rock, Spring Brook, and Maple. State officials are urging consumers who have such milk to throw it away.
Staff writer Dan McDonald can be reached at 508-490-7475 or at dmcdonal@cnc.com.